<p>DS will be taking Statistics in the fall. He has a choice between taking the class within the statistics, psychology or biology department. His advisors are giving him conflicting information (both premed advisors). One suggests the bio stat and the other suggests the statstics department or the psychology department.</p>
<p>Son has check various medical school sites and has found only one school (so far) that requires the statistic via the math or stat department. Other schools seem not to care or say they may require a syllabus. Has anyone had experience with justifying their coursework? Should it be avoided?</p>
<p>Though potentially more difficult, DS would like to take the bio stat but does not want to cause any problems with the requirements for medical school. Is it safer to take stat through the statistic department, even though it seems to focus on business statistics? The new MCAT/medical school requirements for his class seem to leave many things in shades of grey. </p>
<p>Imput would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>I took it through the Statistics department but that was only because of my major. It was pretty easy through the statistics department and I got an A without much effort. If the few schools that require it go through the statistics department and he’d like it to help his GPA, I’d suggest the statistics department one. The bio one probably wouldn’t impress anyone and would be harder.</p>
<p>Took mine through the math department. I would not do psych stats unless he’s a psych major. If the stats stats is really business heavy than do bio.</p>
<p>Thanks all.
IWBB: He is not a psych major. It seems that he has heard a few horror stories about med applicants not taking courses through the “right” department and med schools not accepting the course to satisfy the pre-req. With stat being required my more schools everyday, he just didn’t want to make a mistake. The Bio Stat seems to make more sense, but he certainly doesn’t want it to become a problem in the future.</p>
<p>I think his best bet is to take the one that is closest to like, legit math stats. So, if the Stats department class he was planning on taking is really geared toward business majors, don’t take that one. If the one in the Bio dept is a watered down version geared toward nursing or health professions or whatever majors, don’t take that one. Same goes for psych. Is there a stats for math majors? That would probably be the right one. It seems like any time there’s a class from one department geared toward students from another department, it’s not the version of the class med schools want. (Eg: don’t take the microbio class all the pre-nursing students take; take the microbio class the microbio (or bio or biochem or whatever) majors take)</p>
<p>kristin: The stat class offered through the math department seems to be a really high level class (Math 471). He said he will check on it though. The stat class specifically references business applications. The bio stat class says the following:</p>
<p>“This course will provide an introduction to probability and statistical methods that are commonly used in the biological sciences. Practical, real-world examples from biology, ecology, and natural resources management will be used throughout the course. This course is aimed at 300-level students who intend to work with biological data, or anyone interested in statistics. Computing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course.”</p>
<p>Though this concern may be trivial, DS doen’t want to make an avoidable mistake. Again, he is receiving conflicting information from his advisors. None of them have even mentioned the statistics course housed in the math department. </p>
<p>Has anyone experienced med schools questioning or denying coursework?</p>
<p>So another thing to think about is…how much does this really matter? In other words, if he takes bio stats and that turns out to be the wrong one, and this prevents him from applying to certain med schools, will that really matter? Is this a theoretical problem, or a real one? I can certainly see wanting to keep options open and avoiding mistakes, especially when you know people who have been burned by said mistakes. You might explore some schools he’s interested in–your state school and any private schools he’s interested in, for example–to see if stats is required (or perhaps just recommended?)</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I agree with him that the bio stats class sounds a lot more useful than some theoretical math class or some business class, and the optimist in me would like to believe that med schools would believe that too.</p>
<p>Kristen, thanks for your insight. As of right now, this is indeed a theoretical issue. He is early in his undergrad years. Many things can happen, both good and bad. But thus far, progress toward his goal is moving along very well. This year has only reaffirmed his occupational goal. But, with the new MCAT and SOMs changing their requirements, statistic seems to be moving towards a more frequent admissions requirement. He is assuming that by the time he applies, stat will be required by a majority (or at least many more) of the SOMs.</p>
<p>Statistics is not a requirement (yet) at his instate SOM. So, that may not be an issue. However, with his application cyles a few years away, many things can change. His thoughts are: “not knowing the gpa/MCAT combination I will be applying with, I’d sure hate to close any doors because of a course choice I made my freshman year”. I have to respect his forward thinking. That’s why we thought it was worth the ask here on CC. I appreciate the time and patience offered to all of the CC premed forum rookies by the posters that have come before us.</p>
<p>What statistics courses are specified for statistics majors at his school?</p>
<p>ucbalumnus, you ask a good question. What he has learned is that a statistics major through the math department needs two pre-req courses beyond Calculus before they can take intro to statistics. It makes sense now why a statistic course through the math department is not what was recommended by the advisors. </p>
<p>The courses labeled statistics (not in the math department) are housed in the management information systems arm of the business school. The entry level course does not require any pre-req courses beyond calc, making the advisor’s suggestion more sensible.</p>
<p>The intro to stat course through the Biology department seems to make the most sense, however, it does not carry the math or stat designation. That’s the rub. Son is not sure if SOMs will accept it.</p>
<p>Based on the course catalog for the university involved (it was not that hard to figure out), there are several statistics courses available:</p>
<p>Courses with no calculus prerequisites:
- for business majors (in “statistics” department)
- for biology majors (in biology department)
- for criminal justice majors (in criminal justice department)
- general introductory course (in math department)
- for sociology majors (in sociology department)</p>
<p>Courses requiring calculus 3 or more:
- for math majors, three course sequence (first course needs calculus 3; second course needs linear algebra)</p>
<p>That is very similar to what he has found ucbalumnus. His understanding is the statistics course through the math department would require him to take two more courses beyond his calculus I credit in order to take the math statistics course. Again, he knows there are several statistics courses offered, but is concerned that SOM will not accept them because they are not offered through math or stat (they do not carry the math or stat designation). I suppose he is trying to decided if he should take the intro to stat course (for business majors) that carries the stat designation or the intro to stat class for bio majors (the carries the bio designation). The bio stat course decription seems to be more suitable but he worries the SOMs will not accept it. I know this may be a small issue, but with statistics becoming more important for the new MCAT and SOMs, he is just trying to figure it out. He has looked at several SOM websites and called two. The two he called indicated that they are still in the process of adjusting their pre-reqs for his year. Again, new to the process and just trying to figure things out. Thank you for your help.</p>
<p>Would the lower division general introductory course in the math department be acceptable?</p>
<p>Hmmm…I’ll have to check with him. It is my understanding that the Math Intro Stat course (Math 451 Intro to Mathmatical Statistics) has two math pre-reqs that he does not have, and though it says “Intro”, it is far from an intro class. Did you see something that he is missing?</p>
<p>This course: “MATH 210. Data Analysis Probabil Stats.”</p>
<p>It looks like a rather low level course, though.</p>
<p>The more advanced sequence is 355-451-452; 355 requires calculus 3, and 451 requires 355 and linear algebra.</p>
<p>Hmmm, found more options: GES 255-257 (two semester sequence), GES 400 (one semester course). These are statistics for engineering majors, and require calculus 2 as the prerequisite. No idea what medical schools will think of an engineering statistics course versus the other options.</p>